The Entire Sky Sangha is open to the public. All who are interested in Zen meditation are welcome to join us. Activities are all free.

Tuesday evening 6:30 pm orientations offer brief introductions to zazen (the Zen style of meditation), to postures that will help you sit comfortably and in stillness, to meditation hall etiquette, and to Zen liturgy.  If you are new to Zen, please consider joining us for an orientation!  Email us to arrange an orientation.

The evening typically follows the following pattern:

• A few minutes before the scheduled starting time, everyone will join our Zoom group, and sit quietly on either a meditation cushion or in a chair.
• At exactly the scheduled starting time, the service will begin. The practice leader will offer incense and then everyone will join in three bows.
• The service itself consists of about 10 minutes of chanting selections from our liturgy followed by one or more 25-minute periods of sitting meditation.
• Between the chanting and each period of sitting meditation is a brief period of walking meditation. Individuals needing to go to the restroom or to leave are encouraged to do so during the walking meditation period so as to minimize disturbances during the other parts of the service.
• Some sittings feature an opportunity to have a private interview with a Zen teacher. These are opportunities to ask questions about Zen practice, most particularly focusing on your own experiences. On other evenings, a teacher will give a talk on Dharma topics, with time for Dharma discussion afterward.
• The sitting ends with a short chant and 3 bows.

In your orientation you will be shown how to do seated and walking meditation, and how to follow along with the service, including bows.

In addition to the introduction of the sitting postures (on a chair, on a bench, cross-legged), newcomers will notice that there seems to be numerous rules for how to do everything – don’t worry about this at all! It is true; there are a lot of rituals. The purpose of the rituals is to eventually free you from having to think about what to do – another way to help still the mind. As a newcomer there is no need to worry about them. Everything is done slowly. Just imitate the people who seem to know what they are doing.